STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the Rev. Janet Jones begins her second year as president of the Staten Island Council of Churches, she is looking to grow volunteerism within the organization and the borough as a whole.

The council is preparing for its annual Awards Dinner fundraiser on Feb. 6 where 32 volunteers from member churches will be honored for their community service.

Comprised of about 55 member churches and organizations representing most of the Christian denominations on the Island, the Staten Island Council of Churches became a separate entity in 1992 from the New York City Council of Churches.

"Is Christ Divided?" was the apt theme when clergy and laity gathered on Thursday night at Zion Lutheran Church in Willowbrook for the council's annual Week of Prayer for the Christian Unity service.

Unity is a key factor in increasing the council's ability to serve the Island as a whole.

"We must not let theology and personality overshadow the work we can do together around issues like education, hunger, homelessness, anti-violence, health issues like obesity, diabetes, drug abuse, mental illness, nor issues like immigration," Rev. Jones told the Advance.

"As president, I am determined not to let our differences hamper the good we can do together."

Rev. Jones, the pastor of Rossville AME Zion Church, said that the council needs more people who want to be actively involved in the work of the organization.

"The challenge has been to increase 'sweat equity' of SICOC members in the working committees, to get more churches and organizations to join the council and to build support for SICOC activities and events," Rev. Jones elaborated in a council newsletter.

The council has been active for many years in other interfaith efforts such as the Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island and Community Days service activities to benefit the entire Island.

However, Rev. Jones would like to see the council become more involved in social witness and she believes that members need to more clearly define how the organization should respond to crucial issues on the Island, throughout the nation and the world. Discussions that began at retreats last summer regarding "forging the direction of the council" need to continue, Rev. Jones believes.

"If one man, Nelson Mandela, can be the voice that causes a very diverse yet deeply divided nation like South Africa to gather at the table of reconciliation and unification, imagine what the SICOC, as the visible voice of Christ for our Community, ought to be able to do," Rev. Jones stated in the council newsletter.

The Awards Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the Old Bermuda Inn in Charleston.